


one false move

by lookforanewangle



Series: behind your darkest doubts | whumptober 2020 [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Guns, Hurt No Comfort, Kidnapping, No proofreading we die like mne, Revenge, Threats of Death, hands are tied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26789035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookforanewangle/pseuds/lookforanewangle
Summary: They’d all been kidnapped before. It was a packaged deal; be the children of the wealthiest person in Gotham, or be a vigilante, it all worked the same. Being kidnapped was bound to happen now and then.The four of them being kidnappedtogetherand in theircivvies,though. That one was new.—No 2. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY“Pick Who Dies”| Collars |Kidnapped
Series: behind your darkest doubts | whumptober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951099
Comments: 12
Kudos: 148





	one false move

**Author's Note:**

> I say these are going to be short and then I spit out a thousand words. whoops??
> 
> spoilers in the end notes if you wanna know what happens~

They’d all been kidnapped before. It was a packaged deal; be the children of the wealthiest person in Gotham, or be a vigilante, it all worked the same. Being kidnapped was bound to happen now and then. 

The four of them being kidnapped _together_ and in their _civvies,_ though. That one was new.

Jason groans as they wake and find themselves in an abandoned warehouse office. “I thought I outgrew being held for ransom," he complains, flopping onto his back.

“Once a Wayne, always a Wayne,” Dick grunts, pushing himself up and blinking against the harsh LEDs glaring down in the small space. “Unfortunately, these types of things never change.”

“Bruce is gonna be pissed,” Tim breathes, rubbing at his eyes. His wrists are crossed over one another and tied with a flimsy strip of rope. He turns to look it over in confusion. "...is this a prank?"

“If not, these people are clearly amateurs,” Damian sniffs haughtily, rubbing grit from his eyes and begins to fiddle with the ties. “I could break out of these in under a minute.”

“Could be a prank, but I’m going to guess amateurs,” Dick muses, mind going a mile a minute as they all get to their feet and tug at their restraints. “Let’s just see if we can find a way ou—”

He cuts off as the door to the room swings open, and a sturdy, middle-aged man strides in. He’s exuding confidence, as if capturing them was his greatest accomplishment. He had a handgun in one hand, fingers loose around the handle.

“Wakey, wakey, boys. Judgement day is here.”

“Oh goody,” Jason mutters, rolling his eyes. “Bruce is gonna be _so_ happy we got kidnapped by a trigger-happy nobody. What a way to go. Who wants to go first?”

Tim snorts. The man’s grip tightens around the handle of the gun and Dick tenses. He watches him like a hawk, shifting his stance to lunge if the man goes towards any of the others. 

“You think I give a shit what your daddy thinks?” the man snarls, sudden anger not entirely unexpected, but dangerous nonetheless. “I don’t care if he walked in here himself and picked favorites. I’m tryin’ to get back at him, y’see, make a _statement_ , and one of you is gonna pick who that message is delivered by. I’m givin’ you agency, takin’ the choice away from him, yeah? Just like the choice was taken away from me.

“So who’s gonna pick which one of you dies tonight?”

They all stare at him in stunned silence. 

“Yeah, that’s not happening, dumbass,” Jason snarks. “Good fuckin’ luck.”

“Oh, it’s happening,” the man responds, advancing on him with a scowl, gun suddenly up and pointing at Jason’s head. Jason straightens himself to his full height, snarl on his lips. “I worked too damn hard to get you all here in one spot! Daddy’s little princess was too slippery to snatch,” he growls, “but the rest of you will do just fine, I think. He’d break over losing one of you. And if any of you even _think_ of breaking those ties, you're dead first.”

“What the hell is wrong with you,” Tim spits, fingers stilling on the loose knot of his own rope.

“Wrong with _me?_ I’m just a hard working man, earning his keep while you all sit up in your high towers hoarding all that cash and not sharing it with the rest of us.”

“You want money?” Dick cuts in, drawing the man’s attention away from his brothers. _Focus on me. Stay away from the rest of them or I swear—_ “Bruce would pay a fortune—”

“No, I don’t want money!” the man roars. “Money wouldn’t bring my Jessie back!”

They all stiffen as the gun swings in his outburst. The man clenches his eyes shut, sucking in a shaking breath through his nose and exhaling sharply. “No,” he says quieter. “No, money won’t fix anything. Not for this.”

He turns back to Jason with narrowed eyes, cocking his head to the side as he looks him over thoughtfully. Jason scowls.

“What, am I not good enough for you?” he taunts, shifting lazily on his feet. “I’ve already died once.”

“Jay—” Tim hisses.

“Don’t fucking joke with me, kid,” the man snaps. “People don’t just come back from the dead.”

“Wanna bet?”

The gun is back at Jason’s forehead. Jason shoots him a lazy grin, razor sharp at the edges. “I’m his secret favorite, obviously. B wouldn’t miss the others one bit, I’m the one he puts all his time into. He did all sorts of research and magic mumbo jumbo to bring me back, couldn’t handle losing me once.”

“You’re lying,” the man growls, digging the gun into Jason’s head. “Don’t think I don’t know exactly what you’re doing. Trying to protect your brothers. It’s not going to work.” He pulls the gun back and gives Jason a once over. “You’re too rough around the edges anyway. He wouldn’t miss you, much. ...Nah,” he continues thoughtfully, turning towards Damian as Jason’s face shutters in rage. “But the baby…”

Dick stiffens as the man saunters up to Damian. “Don’t you fucking dare,” Dick snarls.

“Oh, come on,” the man says, exasperated. “I wouldn’t ever kill a kid.” Dick’s eyes narrow, gritting his teeth as the man swipes a hand roughly through Damian’s hair. Damian is stiff beneath the manhandling, rage coursing through him at the man’s attention.

“Jessie was about your age when he died,” he murmurs, pushing Damian's hair from his face. “And the man who killed him was around the age of your brothers. Just be a good boy n’ pick which of your brothers is your least favorite, and then you can all go home. I don’t have all night.”

“I will not,” he snarls. “Killing them will not bring Jessie back.”

“Of course not,” the man shrugs. “But it’ll make me feel a whole lot better.”

Damian flicks his gaze to Dick in a question. _Can I just take him out already?_

Dick shakes his head minutely. _Don’t give up your cover_.

“Oh, big brother, huh?” the man muses. Damian’s eyes widen in horror. “That’s harsh.”

Damian lunges as the gun whirls on Dick.

“Wait— _no!”_

_“Dick!”_

The gun cracks, and Dick crumples to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut just as the window explodes inwards.

**Author's Note:**

> spoiler alert: no one dies!! (in this fic at least)
> 
> and because I can't just leave it at that, Dick totally saw what this mysterious man was going to do and dropped to the ground just as bruce shattered the window, causing chaos and mayhem but everything ends happily :)
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
